A recent poll by Leger, which was paid for by OMNI News, shows the problems that newcomers to Canada are having as living costs rise. Out of the 1522 people who answered, an amazing 83% said that worries about cost were making it very hard for them to settle in the country.
At the same time, Statistics Canada did a study that showed that more than a third of new arrivals were renting and spending more than a third of their earned income before taxes on rent.
On February 6, the federal government announced new steps to help Canadians, including refugees, who are having a hard time affording things. Similar policies were put in place by the government the year before these programs.
Housing Initiatives:
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said that the Canada Housing Benefit (CHB) scheme would get an extra CAD 99 million. The CHB directly helps renters with low incomes by giving them money to help with their rent payments.
With this extra money, CHB will have a total of CAD 325 million for the fiscal year 2023–2024. This money will come from support programs in the provinces and territories. The CHB’s money is part of a total of CAD 4.8 billion that will be given out over eight years.
This increase in CHB funding is the most recent of several steps taken to make housing in Canada more affordable. Some of these are:
The $4 billion Housing Accelerator Fund gives local governments a reason to simplify planning rules and increase the production of housing units. The goal is to build an extra 100,000 homes over the next three years.
The Canadian Mortgage Charter spells out specific ways for banks to help homebuyers who are having trouble paying their main residence mortgages.
The Tax-Free Home Savings Account lets first-time owners put up to CAD 40,000 toward their down payment without having to pay taxes on it. The fall economic plan for 2023 also emphasized that Canada needs to do more to make housing more affordable.
How to Measure Essential Goods:
In the same statement, Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry, said that he was going to look into business practices that might affect Canadians’ ability to buy things like food.
To support strong consumer affairs studies, the government promised to triple the amount of money given to Canada’s Contributions Program for Non-profit Consumer and Voluntary Organizations. In particular, businesses will look closely at:
Shrinkflation is when the size or amount of a product is decreased while the price stays the same or goes up.
Skimpflation is when cheaper, and often less good, items are used to make a product that looks and works the same but costs the same or more. These steps are being taken because living costs are going up around the world, and Canada is having the same problems as other Western countries.
